Millar's time-trial bid punctured

Thursday 21 September 2006 21.21 EDT
First published on Thursday 21 September 2006 21.21 EDT

Given that he is less than three months into his comeback to racing after his two-year doping ban, and is probably fortunate merely to be competing in these world championships, David Millar was right to be relatively unflustered after a puncture early in yesterday's time-trial title put paid to his hopes of taking a medal in yesterday's 52-kilometre race.

Over the course which looped around the Obertrumer lake, north of the city, Millar finished in an unexpectedly low 15th place, 3 minutes 21 seconds behind the winner Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland, who took the most important triumph of his professional career since taking the prologue time-trial of the 2004 Tour de France. The Swiss's margin over the second-placed rider, his trade team-mate at the CSC squad, David Zabriskie of the US, was a spectacular 1min 29sec. The recent Tour of Spain winner, Alexandr Vinokourov, was third.

"The puncture kind of symbolised my day; I wasn't strong enough and it didn't help," said Millar, who had to stop and change his bike just four kilometres into the race, at the start of the first hill. The net time loss was less than 30sec; the effect on his momentum and his mindset was probably more and he was a lowly 23rd at the first time check after 10km.

"My form isn't predictable enough at the moment," said Millar, who had actually finished ahead of Cancellara, albeit by less than a second, in winning a time-trial stage in the Tour of Spain less than two weeks ago.

"These things are simple in a time-trial. It's either happening or it's not. I couldn't get it all out, I didn't finish and want to collapse or anything. I didn't have that edge. I've just finished a three week stage race [the Tour of Spain] and I was getting a bit tired towards the end."

The 29-year-old Scot will return to racing on Sunday in the men's elite race, and will then race two end-of-season single-day classics, the Championship of Zurich and the Tour of Lombardy.